Another High-Profile Rape in India Highlights Ongoing Problem

Five men, arrested in connection with the gang rape of a female Swiss tourist, are presented by the Madhya Pradesh police personnel in Datia town, in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, on March 17, 2013

Widespread hopes that the outrage over last year’s infamous gang rape would spark lasting change in India receded further still this weekend, as the attack of a Swiss tourist in central India made headlines around the world. The victim, a woman from Lausanne, Switzerland, who is reportedly 39 years old, was camping for a night during a bike tour with her husband in the state of Madhya Pradesh when she was sexually assaulted by several men around 10 p.m. on Friday. The men robbed the couple and fled. Several Indian media outlets reported that police arrested five men in connection with the attack Sunday, though there have been conflicting statements from officials.

While unusual because of the victim’s nationality, the incident is one of hundreds of cases of rape that have come to light in the three months since Dec. 16, when a 23-year-old student was fatally raped and assaulted on board a moving bus in the Indian capital. The government responded to the ensuing massive protests and collective outcry over the attack with a flurry of measures designed to improve safety for women in the capital and increase punishment for rape and other gender-related violence, including making rape that results in death a capital offense.

What lasting impact those measures will have — particularly beyond the streets of the capital — is still unclear. The same day that the Swiss tourist was attacked, Indian media reported that another woman in Madhya Pradesh’s capital was gang-raped aboard a moving bus during the middle of the day. Widespread mistrust of police, understaffed forces and the stretched capacity of the courts are seen as contributing to what seems to be an increasing sense of impunity on display in these exceedingly violent sexual assaults. In New Delhi alone, of more than 600 rape cases filed last year, just one resulted in a conviction. “There is an overwhelming feeling [among sex offenders] that you can get around the system,” says Rajat Mitra, a clinical psychologist and director of the Swanchetan Society for Mental Health who has worked extensively with sex offenders in New Delhi.

So far, the high-profile trial of five of the six men arrested in connection with the Delhi rape case has not served as much of a deterrent to would-be offenders. (The sixth suspect in the case, a juvenile, is being held and tried separately.) After laws were toughened up in February to allow for capital punishment, the five men on trial in a special fast-track court in New Delhi all faced the death penalty. The delivery of swift justice and harsher punishment, however, faced an unexpected complication last week when the alleged mastermind of the crime, a bus driver named Ram Singh, was found hanged in his jail cell in Delhi. His lawyer and family members have said they suspect foul play, and an inquiry has been launched into his death.

The Swiss government has requested a swift investigation into Friday’s attack. Local police have reportedly detained some two dozen people for questioning about the assault that they say was carried out by between five and seven men. Police have told Indian media that the attackers beat and restrained the man in the camp the couple had set up for the night, and several of them raped the woman in front of her husband. They stole a laptop and cash from the couple before fleeing the scene. After the attack, the couple reported the crime to police and sought treatment in a local hospital.

With all eyes once again on India, local police are under pressure to respond to this case quickly — more quickly, no doubt, than other low-profile cases similar to it that are being reported on a near daily basis. But officials’ comments in the past two days still echo some of the early reaction to the Dec. 16 rape case, when many people initially blamed the 23-year-old woman for not taking responsibility for her own safety when she boarded an unmarked bus at night. Over the weekend, a senior official in Madhya Pradesh told the Times of India that the Swiss couple erred by staying in a place where there is a higher ratio of men to women. “They apparently lost track and took a wrong turn and decided to halt for the night by the side of a village brook little realizing that the district with 85:100 men-to-women ratio is not the safest place for women,” he told the daily. Running a speedy investigation in the glare of the international spotlight is a start to addressing this problem in India, but that’s the easy part. Changing these deeply entrenched attitudes about sex crimes will be the longer and harder fight.

Anti-Rape device "RAPE AXE" should be sold in all the leading stores in India at cheap prices and every female should buy one because the government will do nothing about this heinous crime!!! ALL RAPISTS SHOULD BE MADE NAKED AND BRUTALLY BEATEN IN PUBLIC!!!

The problem is disrespect for women and the source of disrespect for women and girls might be their religious books. For example:

Verse 7: If she do not give in, let him, as he likes, bribe her (with presents). And if she then do not give in, let him, as he likes, beat her with a stick or with his hand, and overcome her, saying: 'With manly strength and glory I take away thy glory,'--and thus she becomes unglorious. FOURTH BRÂHMANA.

So, this verse actually encourages rape! Another example:

Verse 2: Day and night woman must be kept in dependence by the males (of) their (families), and, if they attach themselves to sensual enjoyments, they must be kept under one's control.Verse 3: Her father protects (her) in childhood, her husband protects (her) in youth, and her sons protect (her) in old age; a woman is never fit for independence. LAWS OF MANU, CHAPTER IX

So, a woman is never fit for independence, is that why she can be kidnapped and raped if she is alone?

While it is great that the Indian government is taking swift steps to ensure justice is met for victims of violence, what we must realize is that change cannot happen overnight. It has been seen that debates are still ongoing in countries like the US as to whether capital punishment is a sufficient deterrent to crime. What we must aim for is change in the mindset of men, in India or elsewhere. Education is only tool we have to make a long-term difference, and without involving men in the dialogue about violence against women, we cannot achieve real change. Take for instance, Equal Community Foundation, based in India. Check out their website, they teach gender equitable behaviour to 14-17 year old men, who then pay it forward, by teaching what they have learnt to other men in their communities. This is the kind of local change we need to aim for, so that this change will reflect in a larger sphere in 10, or even 20 years from now.

To suggest the victims were at fault is as barbaric and disgusting as the crimes that were committed. Sick! I live in the UAE, today, as i was driving near my home, I noticed a woman, blonde, attractive, probably in her mid 50's, walking along and near a construction site of Indian/Bangladeshi workers. I was appalled at the way they all STOPPEd what they were doing and stared her down, disgusting pigs! I guess having heard of the recent gang rapes over there, it made me even more angry. Here they'd make up excuses for them, they're uneducated, they're poor...guess what..there's no excuse of intimidation and acting like a bunch of perverts. Thankfully am guessing the majority of Indians would be repulsed by this kind of thing. Having traveled to India though, I am aware of how they look at women,and it's pretty clear what they're thinking. And as far as comparing gang rapes, to random acts of violence against women in places like the USA or other western countries, makes no sense. It's very rare to hear of gang rapes, and as traumatising as any rape is, to be gang raped would be that much worse, with the woman probably hoping she'd not wake up to see the light of day!

Close on the heels of the gang rape of a Swiss tourist in Madhya Pradesh, a 25-year-old British woman on Tuesday jumped off a hotel room here to save herself from an alleged sexual assault bid and suffered a leg fracture.The tourist, who had checked into the hotel in Idgah area two days back, said a man entered her room early in the morning on the pretext of giving her a massage and tried to molest her, police said.She suffered a leg fracture in the escape bid, police said, adding the girl has been admitted to the district hospital.The police have arrested the hotel owner Sachin Chauhan, a Delhi native, on charges of molestation and have booked him under relevant sections of IPC, Circle Officer of Sadar police station Ram Suresh Yadav said.

The problems you see in India are because in India we tried to implement western style governance and system. That has spectacularly failed. Our courts want conviction to be based on evidence "beyond shadow of doubt" and "humane punishments". This type of western ideology has resulted in failure of governance and more and more crime.

Is democracy good? Is free speech good? Is the theory of human rights good to criminals good? - Well may be. But it is certainly not working in India.

Dear westerners, wherever you do not see democracy and free speech in any part of the world. Don't just jump on the bandwagon to slam it. May be in that system they can give a good governance.

And what about the theory of deterrent punishments? - you think it is wrong. Hey but wait, that is the only thing that works in this part of the world. Not the so called humane punishments.

Please do us third world people some favour, stop slamming strong punishments, stop criticizing those governments who are loose on freedom of speech and control their media, stop criticizing them if they do not have liberal western style democracy. After all, you had your dark ages, you had your renaissance, you had colonise where you abused human rights of millions. So let us (third world people) complete our process. Please do not be poke your nose.

As for the problems of abuse of women in my country, it is easy to stop. How? Government shall ban all that media which shows women as sex symbol, shall ban all those movies, TV shows and other audio - visual and literary material which can disturb public morality, shall introduce very very harsh punishments like chopping off the manhood for crimes like rape to induce fear among people, shall make legal system super fast, efficient, effective by completely sidelining the existing set of procedures and laws (especially those created by Indian courts). Then and only then women in India will be safe.

Dear westerners and all those Indians who have been brainwashed by impractical (for India purposes) western philosophy and values, your criticism of my comment is welcome. Why? I am not against free speech itself. Just that in our third world countries people have not understood freedom, democracy and all those western things.

I wonder how presumed gender equality helps the US avoid being the Rape Capital of the planet going by these numbers (though wikipedia would rank Sweden far worse). I wonder why Time has no time to investigate the root causes of this abominable global crisis (check wikipedia on international rape statistics).

many years ago I have travelled to India and was not impressed. The country is stuck in the past, dirty and has some questionable barbaric practices that really should be addressed in todays times. I have experienced the 2nd class treatment first hand. The country needs to step up to the plate and start acting in civilized manner if they want to gain respect of the world audience. raping and blaming the victims that somehow its their fault due to the high ratio of men vs. women or just because its allowed by their society based on their 2nd class treatment or just plain no enforcement of the law is not acceptable. Its time to put stop to this !!!

The man to woman ratio would seem to make sense only if these rapes were committed as a result of the men not getting the amount of sex they feel in need of. In the United States it's oft repeated that rape is a crime driven by power rather than sex. Does this hold sway in other regions of the world, I haven't a clue?

I knew a couple who were overpowered, and the wife raped in front of her husband, in a fairly remote area of the Baja peninsula, in Mexico. They were traveling along and camped at the beach one night. They were fine for that night, but when they extended their stay to a second night that is when the rape occurred.

It would be helpful if we knew more about why men commit rape in India.

These are the unanswered relevant questions: (1) Were the rapist under the influence of drugs? The answer to this could shape a long-term solution. (2) Were the rapist from broken families? The answer should point to the increasingly dysfunctional families. (3) Were they school drop-outs? A corresponding sociological approach might be called for. (4) Were they under the influence of alcohol? (5) Do they have police records? (6) Were they used to watching pornography? The answers to these questions would be useful in working out preventive mesures.

4 Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house. 5 And they called to Lot and said to him, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bringthemout to us that we may know them carnally."

@Onkar It is those principles of Democracy which make Indian society and religious believes so much tolerant. Of course today that tolerance is being misunderstood by the western world.

We have democracy even in choosing our GOD. What the western population mis-understands that Hinduism has many GODs.

Like in Bhagawad-Geeta, the principle scripture of Hinduism LORD says "Whatever form U worship me in, whatever way U worship me in It'll reach me. Worship me in any way and it'll reach me. Worship me through meditation, rituals, dance, singing devotional songs or just love me. U don't even have to worship me, just perform Ur daily duties and offer them to me at the end of the day."

And it's imbibed in our culture since time immemorial. It's what allows Indian culture to understand and accept every form of worship in any religion of the world. Democracy is not something the western world has imposed on us. And being anti-democratic is the greatest sin. True democracy makes us tolerant to other's faith, views and cultures.

@Onkar If U want to suggest that Democracy and Freedom of Expression are wrong. Then I'm amazed and speechless.

Democracy as a system of Govt might have been introduced post Independence. But the essential features of democracy are deep-rooted in the Indian Culture since time immemorial. Please study the Indian History in detailed.

I wonder how presumed gender equality helps the US avoid being the Rape Capital of the planet going by these numbers (though wikipedia would rank Sweden far worse). I wonder why Time has no time to investigate the root causes of this abominable global crisis (check wikipedia on international rape statistics).

@famulla5 What I fail to understand is what makes U think there's no verification. No investigation is going on? Do U want the Govt-of-India and the investigation agencies to directly report every minute to U?

"The man to woman ratio would seem to make sense only if these rapes
were
committed as a result of the men not getting the amount of sex they
feel in need of"

The amount of sex they FEEL the need? You do not die without sex therefore it is not a need, but a want or a desire. They are
not getting the amount of sex they WANT from WILLING individuals so they
should just take it? That is just giving them an excuse to explain their barbarianism.

Maybe I am misunderstanding your statement,
but that sentence really grinds on my nerves. There is absolutely NO
excuse for rape. NONE.

And my feeling is they have committed rape for the following reasons:

(1) India is progressive, but many still believe women are second class citizens

(2) There are no punishments for rapist, they are not activiely pursued, and rape is not considered a serious crime by corrupt police forces.

(3) They felt they could rape the women without any repercussions. So they did.

India needs to get their act together, and they need to stop covering the faces of the rapists. People should see who they are. They also need to act swiftly on charging the men from the 2012 rape of the 23 year old college student, or there will be an uprising of riots to protest why a white women received swift justice, while the indian women still does not have justice almost 6 months after her rape and death.

@timevicente This is a society that sets women up to be fair game simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. If you're out past dark in the wrong part of town? You have a target on your back. There's no need for additional agents to rape. Simply being a woman is enticement enough.

@Piacevole I agree, however what is happening in India has never happened before. Now, an 'anti-rape' bill that has been passed will have stringent measures which were not seen before. India is still a young country, still young when it comes to progress. This bill will see more stringent measures such as the death penalty for repeat offenders, and takes into account other sexual crimes such as stalking, voyeurism and acid attacks as well. The Dec 16th gang rape incident is a tragic one and yet it has set the ball rolling for change. Change in any country is not without its history of plundering, murders and rapes. Now, we will just have to wait and see.

Calm down. Perhaps I wasn't as clear as I thought, but you've misread my post. Of course there's no justification for rape, and no one is suggesting there should be leniency for the criminals.

The crux of my question was, to put it more bluntly and crudely, are these rapists just a bunch of horny men raping women for sexual satisfaction, or are the rapes due to shows of power, with broader cultural, sociological and psychological implications? I do not know the answer to this question, but perhaps someone else does. Further, has there been any research done to determine what the psychological motives are for Indian men who commit gang rape?

@NandaKishoreN@Piacevole I will never be in India. But you might want to consider something: tourism in general (which is a source of revenue for a country, its merchants and so forth) might suffer significantly if women decide that the price of a visit to India might be to be raped. That's a very high price to" see the sights." The tourist money could easily flow to countries that are safer. Who needs to be raped, after all?

What "changes" are we seeing? Since the Delhi rape.. there have been several rapes all over India.. mainly in UP.. and some rapes even included children. Yet, NONE of the offenders were arrested. And the rapes continie. Theonly reason for the imediate arrest in the Delhi and that of the Swiss lady is because both were high-profile cases that once again put India to shame.

@RoccoJohnson@jb1604 If I may suggest, bringing in words like Sociological and Cultural cud be understood as an attempt to attack the Indian cutlture.

There's only one motive of rape, There's nothing cultural to rape. It's an expression of physical POWER. Establishing physical supremacy over a helpless being. There's no element of attraction or seduction in it.

Today we saw a report of a rape of a mentally challenged poor lady wandering on the streets, covered from head to toe in filth and dirt. And the rapist was a Municipal employee collecting Garbage around the city. He did his act of rape inside the Garbage Van. Later reportedly he dropped that lady on the side of the road and was urinating on her. That's when a citizen caught him called the police and chased him. That lady was in no state of understanding what was happening to her and reacting to it.

When I heard of it, the first thought which crossed my mind was that how could a rapist even try to enjoy it with a poor insane lady covered in dirt while surrounded by garbage; Even if we forget about the ethics and criminality of the act for a second?

So, there's nothing cultural about it. Culture, level-of-education, poverty or wealth; I don't see any of these things matter much. It's sheer insanity and display of power.

@NandaKishoreN@Piacevole My point is that I don't have any brief for Pakistan, either, and in the way women are treated in India and Pakistan, from where I sit, there's no difference. Six of one, a half-dozen of the other.

I understand that there's no love lost between the two countries (as you make very clear), but from here, other than the issue of religion, they're interchangeable.

@NandaKishoreN@Piacevole For one thing, Pakistanis are not MY friends. I have no intention of going there, either. I'm sure there are good men "who respect their wives" in India and Pakistan, both. But still, when things like acid-throwings happen, one has to wonder just who cares about whom.

@Piacevole@NandaKishoreN Not some men my dear friend! many men today don't feel safe. I'm not saying everything is lovely in India. But I'm sad that U attack our culture, our traditions our religion, refusing to see the GOOD what we have. I'm concerned that U call all Indian men as rapists. U see things in magnifying glass. There are successful marriages, there are women who love their husbands. There are men who respect their wives. U refuse to see any of it.

That's bothering.

And today yes, we're afraid of stepping out in HYDERABAD, every man and woman. Because of Terrorism, by Ur dear friends in Pakistan.

We are dealing with many problems, internal as well as from other countries. please bear with us, try to understand and empathize with India instead of attacking our culture altogether, if U can do it.

@NandaKishoreN@Piacevole I an assure you that I will not. I will also never go to Mexico or certain other countries - like Somalia -where I couldn't feel reasonably safe.

I'm not saying that India is a "bad country," merely that I would not feel safe there (and evidently a lot of women - and some men - cannot feel safe there) and thus would not visit.

It's your country, a place, a culture you know and are familiar with. But if >you< had been raped, would you still love it as much? If every day, every hour, you had to consider the possibility, would it still be acceptable? I'm certainly glad that a lot of women are never raped, and certainly most men will never be. But it happens, and often enough, publically enough (like that woman on the bus) that women have to worry about it.

Finding that unacceptable is neither "bias," nor "prejudice." Rape happens, to some extent, pretty much anyplace. But some places are safer than others, and a culture goes a long way to determining its incidence.

About women visiting India, it's a sad fact that some incidents took place lately. But why don't U see, how many women are going from the country safely?

The problem with U people is that U assign the bad to the entire society. U can't see crime as a crime. U want to imply that the entire country is criminal.

OK rapes are happening in India. People of India have been protesting. Our Governments are pressurized for proper measures.

But what U guys seem to be suggesting is that India is a bad country so let's altogether get rid of this country, it's entire population and simultaneously it's culture and religion. This bias and this prejudice is something we are questioning.